Hope Remains
by LittletonPace
Summary: In 2199, the world has been devastated by a supernatural war called The Battle. Cousins Peyton and Phoenix Halliwell are the only Warren witches left to fight. When they meet Angel, the trio realize they they're the last chance to save us all.


Crossover fic between Charmed/Angel. Complete AU. Set almost two centuries after the reign of The Charmed Ones. But the world has been devastated by a supernatural war.

In approximately 2100, demons erupted onto Earth and began eradicating all human life. The bulk of the Halliwell line was destroyed, all that remain are cousins Peyton and Phoenix Halliwell, descendants of Piper and Phoebe Halliwell. They are at the forefront of demon attacks as the world tries to rebuild itself.

Angel, the only remaining remember of his crew to live through The Battle, wanders aimlessly across the deserted country looking for people who need saving. The Shanshu prophecy never eventuated; he never became human.

Also, for more information, it's on livejournal:_ http:// peytonhalliwell. livejournal. com/ _(take out spaces)

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**HOPE REMAINS**

**Chapter 1: Reconnection**

As the sun set, Peyton Halliwell breathed in the musty scene of the attic and felt like she was inhaling generations of wisdom and power in that one breath. A warm breeze seemed to pick up from nowhere and shifted her chocolate brown curls off of her slim shoulders. Being in the Manor definitely felt right and whatever reservations she'd had about moving in were quickly fading. The home that had housed generations of her now deceased relatives had been passed down to Peyton from her grandmother, Patience, two years ago. It had taken her this long to decide whether or not she could make the move into the Manor. It wasn't that she didn't like living in San Francisco; she loved it. And since The Battle, it was one of the few cities that still maintained some form humanity after it was all over.

As a descendant of the Charmed Ones, the most powerful witches of all time, Peyton was gifted with a range of magical powers. She was a direct descendant of Wyatt Halliwell, the first male born into their family line, a prophesized twice-blessed child and also half Whitelighter. Peyton embodied the same powers as Piper Halliwell in freezing time and molecular combustion; but she also inherited Wyatt's power of orbing. At 26, Peyton believed that these were probably all the powers she was going to get as she'd had them all from birth. But from the entries in the massive Book of Shadows from her relatives, she also knew that one could manifest itself without warning. There were many members of her family who had withheld six or seven powers, but that was during the century of The Battle; they needed the firepower.

The Battle, in laymen's terms, was basically the end of the world. It began around the time Peyton's great, great grandmother Posey was her age. To cut a very long, devastating story short; all the demons from Hell spilled out onto the Earth and began a killing spree all over the world. Millions of lives were lost. It was only within the past couple of decades that the world had started to rebuild. And Peyton was now at the magical forefront of her family line. Most of her relatives had perished in The Battle. There were a handful of distant cousins that were descendants of Paige Halliwell, but since she married a mortal man her magic was only passed down to her daughters. Somewhere along the line, the magic died out and they lived happily as mortal families without having to deal with the stresses of a demonic life. Many of them survived The Battle; but had fled San Francisco for safety. Peyton sometimes wondered what that might be like, living away from all of this.

Thankfully, she didn't have to face this new chapter of her life alone; she and one other cousin were the only remaining living Halliwell descendants with magical powers. This cousin, Phoenix, chose that moment to come bounding into the attic.

"Ew..." She covered her mouth and nose with her sleeve. "It _reeks_ in here."

"Well, no one's lived in it in so long." Peyton pointed out. Many of their relatives had abandoned the Manor during the battle and scattered across the US to fight and rescue as many innocent lives as they could.

"The Book, is it still up here..." She noted as she peered over the mountains of dust covered boxes and old furniture that littered the attic floor and stopped in front of the pedestal on which the ancient tomb sat. "I'd have thought it would be under lock and key..."

"Well, since The Battle ended I guess they saw fit to let us have it back, Phee." Peyton smiled.

"I love it when you say "_they_"..." Phee smiled.

Phoenix was a descendant of Phoebe Halliwell, another Charmed One, who had married Coop, a Cupid. So through the generations that followed them, their powers melded and trickled down in many forms. Phee had ended up with Phoebe's power of premonition, the power to feel Empathy for others (a gift possessed by both Phoebe and Coop), and telekinesis, another of the original Charmed powers once embodied in Prue Halliwell, the eldest Charmed One.

Phee was 23 with long, flowing brown hair indicative of a Halliwell woman. She was quite petite, another Halliwell trait, with sparkling chestnut brown eyes that seemed to glow off her heart shaped face. She was a definitely heartbreaker; but she was young. She was also extremely sweet and a very talented witch. She and Peyton had been living together for the past four years in an apartment by the beach; so the move back to Halliwell Manor was a big one. However, Phee was more than willing to leave right away; it just took some convincing. Peyton was stubborn; but Phee was relentless and it usually worked.

"Have you decided on a bedroom yet?" Phee asked as she traced her hands over the Book of Shadows worn, leather cover. "Cos there's one with a _massive_ closet-"

"Take it." Peyton cut in immediately with a grin. "Just means I get the bigger room."

"Deal." Phee smiled. "Y'know, Pate, I think this is gonna be good." She looked around the attic. "You and me, fighting evil where it's been fought before by our grandmothers, and great grandmothers, and great-great grandmothers-"

"I get ya..." Peyton mumbled absentmindedly as she approached a lumpy, sheet covered object poking out from under a stack of boxes. Underneath, she found an old fashioned loveseat. It reminded her of something from a castle in England; classy and so elegant. "Wow...pretty." She muttered. "I wonder what else is up here..."

"Well, I guess that's one of the lovely things we get to find out." Phee smiled a crooked smile. "Oh, and by the way, I checked out the basement. If you think _this_ is bad," She waved her hand over the mountains of boxes. "Do _not_ go down there."

"Will do." Peyton gave her a mock salute. "Ok...I guess I may as well start unpacking in my new, gigantic bedroom."

"You're so funny." Phee smirked and approached the Book of Shadows. "Seriously, comedy is something you might wanna consider." She rested her hands on the triquetra symbol engraved on the Book. "And when you-OH!" She gasped and her whole body jerked as she was hit with a vision.

_...a girl...terrified...screaming in an alleyway...two vampires are circling her; snarling...she cowers in a corner...another vampire appears, his face grinning evilly at the scene looking dangerously too excited to be there...the girl screams again..._

"Phee?" Peyton fell to her knees beside her cousins' body; she hadn't collapsed from receiving a premonition since she first acquired her power.

"Whoa...am I on the floor...?" She shook her head a little as she sat herself up.

"Yeh, you collapsed," Peyton glanced up at the magical tome. "From touching the Book..."

"Well, looks like we're definitely meant to be here." She smacked Peyton hard aganist the leg. "I _told _you we should have come earlier."

Peyton ignored her. "What did you see?" She asked as she helped her to her feet.

"A girl, in an alley...ah, that one by the old theatre, I think. Vampires." Phee ran a hand through her to smooth it back down.

"So that would mean stakes." Peyton said as she quickly ransacked a corner of the attic that seemed to be a gathering space for broken furniture and grabbed a handful of broken, splintered chair and table legs. "Let's go!" She clicked her fingers at her cousin as she hurried out of the attic, Phee chasing closely behind her.

**xxx**

He could smell them now, they were so close. Vampires left such a scent... _I wonder if I still stink like that..._ Angel thought to himself as he trolled the empty streets of San Francisco. He'd been in California for the last week or so. His aimlessly travelling had come to a stop here when his car broke down. Rather than try to repair it, he was on the lookout for one he could steal and move on to the next town.

After he dealt with these vampires, that is.

It made sense to Angel that once the human world started to rebuild, so would the demonic world. And vamps were like cockroaches; always lurking around somewhere. You could never kill 'em all. They were one of the first demons to resurface after The Battle. Of course, that was because they were stupid. Any demon with any sort of intelligence would know laying low was the smartest option right now; lull the slowly rebuilding world into a false sense of security.

Angel had caught a whiff of them while he inspected a beat up old Chevy. They were close; and they were on the hunt. As he swiftly made his way through the relatively deserted streets; he smelled blood. He could sense it, pumping through a woman's veins. They'd found a target.

Kicking up his speed, Angel sped across the street into an alleyway to see just what he'd expected; two vampires cornering a frightened young redhead. He was no longer afraid; he was nearing 500 years old so it took a lot to scare him. Instead, he sauntered confidently into the alley. "I _always _thought vampires were idiots." He said aloud. "But going hunting when it's barely sundown?" He tutted them. "That's _really_ moronic."

The redhead, shuddering and cowering behind a dumpster, looked between the three men before her; but didn't speak.

The bald vampire turned to Angel and sneered, his face contorted into its vampiric features complete with fangs and bloodshot eyes. He appeared to be preparing to advance on Angel when his sneer turned into a smirk. "You're a vampire..." he hissed and gestured at the redhead. "Join us in feasting on this young virgin."

The dirty-blonde vamp joined the sneer and let out an animalistic growl. "Join us."

Angel let out a hollow laugh. "You know what?" He flexed his jaw and let his face morph into vampire mode. "I had other plans."

With that, Angel sprang up off his feet and collided with the blonde vamp, snapping his neck. Before it's body even hit the ground, Angel landed a roundhouse kick into the jaw of the bald vampire causing the redhead girl to scream out in horror. No one noticed the blue and white lights circle down at the head of the alley or the two brunettes who seemed to appear from the orbs as if from nowhere.

Phee didn't hesitate, she thrust both her hands forwards and used her telekinesis to toss the bald vampire and the one draped in leather heavily against the wall while Peyton rushed to the redhead's side.

"You'll be okay now." She assured her as she pulled her to her feet. "Just run!" She gave her a shove back down the alley and the girl took off. The balding vampire started to rise but Peyton aimed her hands at his heart and, in one quick flick, used her freeze him in his place. Phee knelt down over her shoulder and stabbed the splintered leg of the dining chair from the Manor deep into his heart; he evaporated to dust seconds later.

Angel was slowly getting to his feet, barely registering what was going on. "Who are you?" He snarled.

"Pate, blow him up!"

"No!" Angel cried and got to his feet as the slightly taller of the two women raised her hands to him. "I'm not evil!"

"You're a vampire!" Phee and Peyton cried in unison.

"I know; but not like you think." He panted as he got to his feet. "I'm...I'm good."

Phee felt a warm glow within her stomach, like she'd just taken a sip of hot tea. It was an indication that her power of Empathy was activating. She was able to sense what this vampire was feeling. More importantly; she could tell that he wasn't lying.

"Nice try." Peyton lifted her hands again and aimed them at the vampire.

"No, wait!" Phee grabbed her cousin's hands. "He's telling the truth. I felt it." She gave Peyton a serious look and felt her relent, and lower her hands.

Peyton knew better than to question Phee's power; she was always right. It was dead annoying, really. Slowly she lowered her hands, but kept a steely glare on his so-called 'good' vampire. He was tall, at least two heads taller that Peyton. He face and body looked young, no older than thirty, but his eyes held so much sorrow in them he looked at least twice that. He was handsome; old-world handsome. He had a strong jaw and a chiselled physique; definitely one of the more attractive vampires Peyton had seen in her time.

"So if you're not evil why did I see you attacking that girl?" Phee demanded.

"I was trying to save her." The vampire replied. "My name is Angel."

Peyton scoffed. "Original."

"It's true." He glanced at Phee. "You know that too, though, right?"

Phee was quiet as she, once again, felt the warm glow in her stomach. She didn't respond, but she shot Peyton a look that said he was still being honest.

"So, I've told the truth..." He glanced between the two of them. "So who are you?"

Peyton shifted uncomfortably on the spot. "I'm Peyton Halliwell; and this is my cousin, Phoenix."

"Phee." She cut in quickly, she'd never liked her name. So what with that silly P name tradition, why did she get stuck with the weird one? "Call me Phee."

"Halliwell?" Angel repeated. "As in the Charmed Ones, Halliwell?"

"How do you know that?" Peyton asked without really answering him.

"I know a lot of stuff, I've been around awhile." He cracked his neck and shook his shoulders free from vamp dust. "So, you two are witches."

"Yeah..." Phee said. "And I had a vision of you here in this alley, attacking this girl. At least, that's what I thought..."

"Obviously, you were wrong." Angel said rudely. "You've got the way _you_ do things, and I've got the way I do mine..."

"Fine with me." Phee replied coldly.

"Me, too." Peyton echoed as Angel brushed past them and retreated back down the alley.

Both Halliwell women watched him leave with identical looks of confusion on their faces. "You sure he was telling the truth?" Peyton murmured to her cousin.

"I'm _never_ wrong." Phee replied sharply.

"Ok, girl saved, crisis over," Peyton took her cousin's arm. "Time to go." She closed her eyes and thought of the Manor and in seconds, they orbed out of the alleyway.

**xxx**

Even though two days had passed since they had run into Angel, Peyton still couldn't get him out of her head. A 'good' vampire? It just didn't make any sense. Phee had already seemed to move on from the subject and didn't really care to talk about it anymore. So Peyton was confined to her own thoughts on the matter.

Then something came to her. He knew them. Well, he knew the name of Halliwell. Maybe...just maybe that meant they knew him as well. Peyton fled up to the attic two stairs at a time, she was out of breath by the time she reached the Book of Shadows. Before they moved back into the Manor, Peyton hadn't seen it in a few years. And it was known to add to itself as well as being added to by members of the Halliwell family from time to time.

Peyton flicked through the ancient, yellow pages of the magical tome passed spells to travel through time, to erase memories, potions, information on past Halliwell witches, sketches of demonic faces and numerous notes from one Halliwell witch to his or her children. The book had to be a zillion pages thick, some of it not even in English. "Come on..." Peyton rested her hands on the book. "Gimme something; some help...anything..." She removed her hands from the book and immediately squeaked in shock as the pages began to flutter on their own. It wasn't so much the act that scared her; it had just startled her.

With a loud snap, the book laid open on a double page spread. On the left hand side of the page was a sketching of Angel; exactly as Peyton had seen him in the alley. Of course, in pencil. "Angel..." She mumbled as she read the information. "_The one with the angelic face..."_

The writing was tiny, Peyton had to squint up close to read it and soon realized that the notes on Angel carried over more than two pages. She gathered up the Book of Shadows in her arms and sat upon the recently revealed loveseat off to the side. For an hour, she sat and read about this vampire with a soul. How he was cursed by Gypsies to feel the pain of all his kills, how he was promised redemption through a prophecy called Shanshu for surviving the apocalypse and, most shockingly, his age. If the dates in the book were accurate, Angel was 472. There were also detailed accounts of his involvement in a number of demonic battles, mention of relationships with women named Darla, the vampire who had turned Angel, and Buffy, a Slayer he'd fallen in love with. It seemed his life was just staring up at her. He was good. He was a soldier. He was just like she was; someone with a gift. Of course, someone with a gift who also happened to be dead...

Whether Phee liked it or not, they were going to talk about this. Heaving the Book of Shadows under her arm, careful to keep her finger marked at the right page, Peyton headed back downstairs to find her cousin in the sitting room watching television.

"What are you watching?" Peyton asked. Television had only really come back on the air within the last decade. With most of the United States in ruins following the battles, no new shows were being produced, but instead they would stock their airwaves with reruns from the early 2000's. Technology hadn't really advanced from that point in time; another side effect of The Battle. So TV's, electricity, phones, cars, all ran pretty much as they had back then.

"It's called _The Hills_." Phee replied as she absentmindedly pulled a stray thread off of her shirt. "It's good; apparently being super hot and super rich doesn't stop them having problems..."

"Who'd have thought?" Peyton deadpanned. "Look." She clicked the remote on mute as the show went to an advertisement, one of the now commonplace ones from the network assuring whoever was watching that things were getting back to normal, and plopped herself down next to her cousin. "We need to talk about Angel."

Phee cocked her head to the side and narrowed her eyes; her 'thinking pose'. "What do you mean, talk? He's a vampire...no matter what he said, he's a demon. We should stake him and then he's no problem anymore." She shrugged. "I don't know why you think there's something important about this one, Pate..."

"Because he's in the Book."

Phee's eyes swung back and locked into her cousins. "_Our_ Book?"

Peyton slid the ancient Book of Shadows onto Phee's lap to the double page entry on the vampire with a soul. "_The one with the angelic face..._" Phee murmured. "Ain't that the truth."

"You were right, as always. What he told us was the truth." Peyton ignored her comment. "It's all in there." She explained about the Gypsy curse, the Shanshu prophecy and everything else she'd read.

"So he _was_ meant to become human again after The Battle." Phee furrowed her brow as she glanced over the page.

"After the _apocalypse_." Peyton corrected her.

Phee gave her cousin a withering look. "Pate...there are like, five functioning states still left in America. Billions of people all over the world were killed in The Battle. Demons wiped out cities within minutes. It's taken twenty years for us to get to _this_ point in time. We only _just_ got a president in Office, and stores are only _just _starting to reopen." She shook her head in disbelief. "If The Battle wasn't the apocalypse...then what the hell is?"

**xxx**


End file.
